prosecutors in chicago dropping all charges against the "empire" actor. >> that announcement stunned the city's police department today. the commander called it, quote, a punch in the gut. >> the mayor tostunned, as you saw there. leon harri o begin coverage at the live desk. >> just an unbelievable turn of events for jussie smollett and the police and the state's attorney's office in chicago. the actor claimed he was attacked by two men inn apparent hate crime. but after an investigation police say imowasett who staged that incident. a grand jury agreed, indicting the actor on 16 felony counts just weeks ago. in a statement today the state's attorney office said this, quote, after reviewing all the facts a circumstances dropping ole charges is a, quote, appropriate rion to this case. smollett spoke minutesater outside the court. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every day one.ince

i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i had been accused of. >> smollett went on toay he would continue to fight for marginalized people. but t speakingay the chicago police department and the mayor had a very different view. >>e do i think justs served? no. what do i think justice is? i think this city is still owed an apology. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you' in a position of influence and power you'll get treated one way. other peoede will be tre another way. there is no accountability than in the sy >> not only were those 16 charges dropped but also the case and evidence has been sealed and will not been seen. the police department saysev th were told about this decision to drop the charges and they only found out this news during a recruiting event. wendy, back to u. >> it is curious.

stay with news4 for more on the smollett saga. at 5:30 we'll have a report from chicago with reaction from se "empirw producers. you can find a complete time ngne of the actor's case on our nbc wasn app, search smollett. breaking news in prince george's county. we have learned three of the five students, local high school students involved in a horrible crash today were seriously hurt. this happened on good luck road n green belt just down t street from duval high school. chopperas 4 over the scene of the accident just after noon today. you canee an suv and car involved here. police just wrapped up a news conference. jackie bensen wl join us live with an update. police are calling a hit and run that killed a woman, murder. the victim in is case a woman in her 60s. investigators say the manin ntionally ran her down. this unfolded sunday evening

outside the victim's home. this alonglover hill road in manassas. pat collins has details. >> anybody that's crazy enough to run overomebody in the street, we don't need them on the street. >> reporter: they say he was driving his car on ohis side the road. they say he sped it up. that he crossed the yellow line. that he intentionally drove into omat woman. that 66-year-old wan. jerry hearnden, he was out walking his do saw what happened. >> when he hit her, like a bomb wentoff, boom. >> and then her body flew across --p in the air -- hood and hit the ground. e >> he kept on going. >> he kept going. >> reporter: the a ctim, sha begum murder in front of her

home in manassas city. it hpened sunday evening. neighbors say someone threw a brick through her first floor window. when she went out to see what its going on she was struck and killed by thatnd run car. a short timeater the driver of the car arrested at 7 eleven he's been identified as muhammad taha. he's from muhammad tahan >> what's nt this point is the victim and the suspe each other. at this point we're still investigating the nature of the relationship. reporter: muhammad taha charged with driving under the influence, charged with hit and run, charged with second degree murder. in manassas city, pat collins, news4. virginia's governor is steppiro out tonightthe shadows of controversy. he'd been keeping a low profile since early february when it was

revealed he appeared in blackface as a young man. but in recent days governor ralph northam has become making appearances again. julie carey m repory democratic lawmakers are glad to see it. >> reporter: governor ralph rtham making his first public stop in northern virginia ins. we announcing he's amending a bill on hands free cell phone use. he's been working mostly bind closed doors since the dy closure this racist photo apared on his medical school yearbook page. crejectingls to step down, he started a so-called listening tour to meet with african-american leaders, saying today those sessions will pay off with policy changes. >> there's a level of awareness regarding race and equity in virginia that i have never seen in my lifetime, and i'm gng to do everything along with my cabinet, my agencies to bring

good from the events that 45 happened six weeks ago. >> reporter: democratic lawmakers getting out. im >> you need to get out, get around the state and start acting in a gubernatorial >> reporter: john chapman also on hand for the governor's event. >> think he's looking to show his contrition. he's looking to t rebuildst with folks. >> reporter: chapman said the governor has not yet reached out to whim. ann it comes to policy promises, promises to reduce inequities he'll look for one thing. >> i have to see the action. i don't want to hear the talk. i don't want t y hear wha think you can do. just get it tedone. >> rep state lawmakers aware the controversy hits in an election year. but many he today say they'll welcome the governor's help in their fall campaign. >> he has stood by me every time i have asked him to and i'll do the same for him.

>> reporter: and northam still resolute about his decision not to resign. >> i was elected to be governor of the commonwealth of virginiae i think had a great first year and i want to continue to do thator for virginia. and more on thessue that brought governor northam to our area. a renewed effort to require virginians to go handse free whildriving. a recent bill wasassed to use hands free while in work zones. but they want to expan that to include all roads across the state. the general assembly will consider that next week. north virginia resident j rowley is pushing for this change because she lost her teenage son to a distracted driver. >> when you experience a big tragedy there has to be something good that comes out of for meis a way to give hi.

back. also today the governor amended a bill to stop suspending one's driver's license because they have unpaid court costs. this would restore driving privileges to more than 600,000 virginians who have impacted by this previous policy. notfooling. april fool's day now means peak bloom for cherry blossoms. the national park service moved that peak bloom up by two days to april 1st. they look at temperatures and where the trees are in the blooming process. rit now the indicator tree is in full bloom down at the tidal basin. the cherry blossom festival runs until april 14th. chilly temps today but warmerra temres will help with the cherry blossoms, right? >> yes. the next couple days warming to the 60s and 70s where the cherry blossoms like it, that's why we think full bloom will be next

week. satellite and radar showing sunshine, but it's a cool day ho today,ng the wind coming down from the north. temperatures aren the 50s. 51 d.c. norfolk only6 degrees. cool air making its way in for this time of year. as we look towards the next couple days, chilly night tonight.da openinfor the nationals, looking great. yes, hello to the 70s.th with , hello to the cherry blossoms. much more on all of this, i'll see you bk here in 10 to 15 minutes. new at 5:00, the use of force from the d.c. police department is on the rise for a second year in a w. the new data shows an overwhelming number of the people feeling the brunt of that force are african-americans p. but as mark segraves reports the d.jority of those cases were found to be justif >> reporter: d.c. police define use of force as anything from taking a suspect down in order to cuffhem to discharging their firearm.

according to a report byhe office of police complaints there were just over 1,000 incidents in2017. in 2018, that number went up to just over 1,200 use of force incidents. an increase of 20%. of those use of force incidents in 2018, 90% of subjects of force were african-americans. >> when you see a number like 90% black residents who are on the receiving end of usef force, it's problematic. >> reporter: charles allen is chairman of the committee who oversees the police, he plans t ask about it at a hearing tomorrow. >> this data is importants for to understand, to help work on improving our policing aoss r city and have the residents have confidence in our local >> reporter: a spokesperson for the d.c. police department wants everyone to put that in perspective. writing with 31,680 arrests in 2018, only 4% involved use of

force. and in 91% of those use of force incidents, the officers' force either met or waser lhan the use of force response prescribed by mp guidelines. the report also shows that of the 232 more serious use of force incidents that were investigated 80% were found justified. ron motten is an advocate. >> tre's still need for reconciliation between the police and community because there's lack of trust. >> reporter: in the district, mark segraves news4.ep thet also looked at complaints filed by citizens. in 2018 there were 27 complaints filed. of th oe, more than half them were determined to be unfounded. news4 at 5:00 is just getting started. for decades somera immigs have called maryland home, they've raised families, started careers and built their liv here.

just ahead, a womans share her story as she gets closer to a deadline that would send her back to a war-torn country. they're asking black students aren't getting into the districts of loudon. >> reporter: i'm adam tuss a new

more breaking news on a busy afternoon. a child has been struck by an suv here in rockville. this is video from chopper 4. the vehicle hit the juvenile the sandy spring bank parking lot. this is off of rockville pike near veers mill road. the child was trapped und the suv and had to be rescued. crews say the child was seriously injured. no word yet on how this happened. wendy.

there are new questions about why htihly sel schools in loudon county don't have more african-american studen. the academies of loudon is for students who show an aptitude for scice and technology. >> reporter: the academies of loudon includes two programs geared toward s.t.e.m. fields. 65 african-american students applied for a spot in one of those programs for ts school year. only one was accepted. the numbers don't add up? >> they don't. >> reporter: those numbers got her to demand the school district address the disparity. currently it's based on a student's academic progress and scores on tests. >>t'ssubjective. any time you have subjective

criteria, there m a be play issues of racism. >> reporter: the school district is heeding her calls writing in a statement, quote, lcps is committed to a rigorous and equitable admissions program beginning with admissions windows open nge fall of 2019 changes to the admissions process will be made to decrease testing bias. >>we're not asking for the criteria to be lowered. we're asking for transparency and accountability. >>re cly asian students make up 75% of the student body. thomas believes closi that gap if all students are shone at a young age. for now she's encouraged that administrators have recognized the issue because she knows it's going to take a district wide effort to fix it. >> we plan to fix this problem

of the admissions problem and the >>pipeline. this issue is going to be a high priority for the school district's committee on equity. ents to the group will be finalized and the naacp will be allowed to nominate someone to join the group. the supreme court heard argumentsn two cases regarding gerrymindering. orth carolina republicans se accused of gerrymandering to maintain aer majority. in maryland redrawing of the map le democrats to pick up the sixth district which had been heldy a republican for two decades. governor larry hogan who's pushing for nonpartisanre redistricting commission said both parties a guilty. >> there's no monopoly on gerrymandering where one party has power over the other. representatives should not be

picking the citizens. the citizens should be picking the representatives. that's the way it's supposed to work. >> in their questions and comments several justices seemed reluctant to have federal courts wehingn on how much partisan is too much. with one pointing to noartisan options that some states have adopted. we should see rulings in both cases in late june. any parent will y tell shuttling their kids to the events is houck leann task and doing t intraffic, it gets harder. now there's a new company that nts to do the driving for you. think of it as uber for kids. adam tuss introduces us to hop, skip, and drivor >> repr: every parent wants the best for their kidnd eighth grader jaylenke wal is a busy kid.

>> how much time do you spend in the car? are you in the car a lot? >> yes. >> reporter: six porsports thata lot of r aning to from places and with our traffic you enjoy how it goes. >> once you o drop themff you go home, try to dosomething,nd go back and get him again. >> reporter: his mom is using a new service called hop, skip drive like uber for kids. >> we can plan -- >> trips are scheduled hours in advance. and the difference here fm traditional ride sharevices is these drivers go through a strict background check. they have to have five years experience as a care giver. chrissy just started driving for the company. >> i gothe fingerprinted did a full fbi background check. they definitely checked into my driving rd. >> reporter: plus another extra layer of security. when a driver shows up the child, that driver and child have exchange a code work. >> i like the code.

how they use the code word so i can identify the person who is taking me places. >> reporter: hop, skip drive is ng in northern virginia but planning to expand. >> we're starting in fairfax, alexandria, wll be in the district in a couple weeks and maryland soon after that. reporter: the company in service in l.a. and t denver area. average rides are 20 to 25 bucks. in alexandria, am tuss news4. hop skip and drive says it meets directly with every driver and hundreds have signed up locally. you might turn to social media to complain about a company but yourts pos also have power in other ways. ahead at 5:00 s tonight,usan hogan explains how y u can social media to get free stuff. cool starts with warmer temperatures, doug's forecast on the other side of this break. joiny us thurs for team coverage of nats opening day

from what's new at the ballpark to the first pitch forecast. our

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we're liking this week so fa and now we're talking april fool's day for the peak. >> that's awesome. >> which is monday. >> monday. just a couple days away and already we have some trees down there. peak 70% of the trees.

but we have some that are full peak rightnow. you go down there you can get some good pictures but it'she xt couple days we think friday, saturday, sunday are going to be ideal for lookino sunday notmuch. we have a good vantage point. a lot of great stuff -- we don't have it. chopper is fine, it's flying it was going toward the chesapeake bay, but as soon as i went to it they said don't go to it. so i can't go toit i'll look outside show you what i am dealing with. can go to the trusty city cam. there it is. sunshine, bright blue skies. notice all the brown out there. we're starting to see some color showing up here, every once in a while, one treehere, a couple on the other side, starting to see some color but t it' next two to three weeks that we see

the vibrt color start to come out. everything starting to grow as we are on the warmer side. i say that, today though cool. sunshine, beautiful. only 51 and with the winds out of the northeast at 15 miles it's a chilly afternoon. 45 hewier, 45 gaithersburg. we have a wind chill out there this afternoon with the winds gusting 10 to 20 miles per hour. nothing on the radar, it's clear. no problem with that at all as we look towards the wider picture here, not muc going on. here's the storm that brought us shower activity yesterday. we didn't see a lotf showers. you folks up towards hagerstown. frederick last night did see some snrr. i'm having a problem with my leg today. it really e hurtsry time i step. sorry. boston, d.c., raleigh,i-95 no problem. i-70 up towardicago, no problem there either. but we are seeing cooler air move in for today. tomorrow a little bit better, 54

stil cool for this time of year, all sunshine not as breezy and slightly warmer. let's mov into what we'll see the next few days. tomorrow morning starting cool 33 at the bus stop 45 by recess. 54 by the time we get the kids. let's get into the 60s and 70s. 64 for opening day. and there's 75 on saturday. we think it's going to be eooking really good out there for the next cou days. a ttle bit more on opening day. again, game time 1:05. 11:00 a.m. getting down there early, not looking bad at all as we take on the mets. temperatures attart 54 degrees. 60 degreest 1:00, 64 by 4:00. i say come see us because that's after the game we'll be at the salt line, which is the first base gate. so com and see us there.

nice and warm through saturday then we check the rest of the weekend th temperatures go down and a little change coming up on sunday. i'll have that at 5:45. i got to go check my leg. >> have a seat. do you want usd to she chopper to get you? >> i can't take chopper to g you. >> chopper's dead. that's right. a wild twist today, did you hear about thisn the saga that involves actor jussialsmollett, charges dropped. p next the reaction from a stunned chicago police department. >> reporter: thousands of immigrants could loseleheir l status this sunday. l status this sunday. erxt, what maryland and fedal something very important.t

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ews4 at 5:00 begins with breaking news. b welcok now at 5:30 we to that breakin news. we have learned that three students involved in a crash near duval high school were seriously injured. >> chopper 4 was over the scene just after noon today in prince george's county. it did not look od. in all five students were hurt. jackie bensen joins us. some of the injuries couldave been avoided, right? >> reporter: well, to show you the importance of this, how seriously the community is taking this, the topti exes of prince george's county were here just a short time ago, all them with somber faces when they told us that all five duval

high school students in that vehicle were not wearing seat belts. now the csh happened here very close to the school around noon today. police say aicle exited from a driveway and clipped the nissan sedan that contained the students. that staed a chain reaction that sent the nissan head on into the path of another oncoming vehicle. the head of prince george county public schools grew emotional as she talked about the importance of which could havelessened the terrible damage from the crash. >> a a parent, immediately as i heard about the accident and after my child was dismissed from school today. i reiterated with him the seat ance of wearing his belt. so i ask parents to take this time to do that wit their students tonight. >> reporter: we have three critically injured high school

students here. their injuries are said to be extremely serious. the police chief cautiously optimistic those injurs are survivable but they are very bad as you saw from the pictures o the crash scene. we know that the driver of the car and the passenger in the front were far less seriously injured because the air bags deployed and protected them. we know the driver is a senior who had permission to be away from the s ool at thtime. the status of the other students to be they were allowed away from the school at that time is not clear. live at duval high school in prince george's county jackie bensen news4 back to you. >> we hope the best tothem. to the developments in the jussie smollett case that could be more dramatic than some of the plot twists on "empire." a today prosecutors dropped charges against the actor, chicago's mayor outraged calling it a, quote, whitewashing of

justice. smollett had been accused of staging a hate crime attack and faced multiple felony charges. let's get the latest from our sister station in chicago. >> reporter: jussie smollett read from a prepared statement. rst expressing gratitude. >> i want to thank my family, my friends, the incredible people of chicago and all over the country and world who have prayed for me, supported me. reporter: in a stunning turn prosecutors dropped the charges against the "empire" actor saying it was a just disposition, an appropriate resolution to the case. >> it seemed to o spiraut of control. we've gotten toth result that is e right result in this case and we're happy. >> reporter: he reported being the victim of a violent racial and homophobic attack january 29th but pice say he made up the story. >> the two men who have attacked m indicated they attacked him.

>> reporter: smollett pleaded not guilty to the 16 count indictment that he lied to police. >> been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. i would not be my mother's son if i was capable o one drop of what i've been accused of. >> reporter: the lead attorney tweeting he was a victim and victimized again in a rush to judgment, apologies accepted. but no apologies from the police or the mayor. >> this is without a doubt a sea clear message if you're in a position of influence and powero ll get treated one way, other people will be treated another way. accountability i the system. >> i love you. it's none of this stuff we can't figure out. >> reporter: he was written out of the last two pisodes of "empire" this season. today reprucers released a statement. e gratified all charges

against him have been dismissed. >> i'd like nothing more than to move owith my life. >> reporter: this case is not over yet. the fbi is still investigating an alleged hate letter he received. also questions remain whether the two brothers will face charges. nbc news chicago. new details on a double shooting in prince george's county we told you about yesterday. police in tactical gear could be seen looking for that gunman ye serday. twoools went on lockdown. investigators tell us t gunman has since turned himself into police. officeea rd him until the investigation is done. authorities found t people shot onda venn tri terrace yesterday. dymoan proct ed, the gunman

shot a woman in the leg. she's out of the hospital. police say they went tthe town home earlier in the day, another fight broke out. that's when police say a man inside opened fire. his name has not been released. thomas wilson is tough on ice but known b for a heart off it. nasa planned to celebrate women's history month with its first ever all

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known for his toughnessn the i number 43 tom wilson is feared by most nhl teams. >> but the caps star known for his big heart in o town. sherree burruss joins us with more on 43's friends. >> reporter: tom wilson's foundation, 43's friends partners with make a wish giving kids a surpris while they wait for their wish. averyole is a 5-year-old and we were there with him for his surprise. he had a tumor on his kidney, he had cancer, his chemo is over so he and his family got to come to a game and get a tour from number >> events like this, it makes him feel normal. even though this is something that normaleople don't get t

do. it's been really hard for him because he does feel thathe's different. and this just gives him something. it gives him a lot of joy. >> reporter: the number one part of the day for avery, mting 43 and getting a special tour of the arena. >> t seconds.t can you waiten seconds? >> one, two, three, four were ve, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. >> what's going on? how we doing? what's your name? >> avery. >> nice to meet you, bud. high five? >> what'st feel like to win the stanley cup? >> it was really cool, buddy. it was the coolest thing ever. have you seen a hockey stick before? do you wan to take one home? i got one ofmine. it might be big for yo you can share it with your . sister there you go, you know what to do. th is my stall. see that? see these?e

they'rockey pants. it's stinky. who's your favorite player? >> alex ovechkin. t's ok t >> the kids here are going through a tough time and it goes a long way they can come and enjoy a night with the ca tals. and, you know, spend it with us, come see the locker room and stuff. they're such great kids we try and have fun when they come here. >> that's you? >> yeah. >> reporter: that stick and puck you saw in that family photo tom wilsonigned and he's hosted 20 families this season, guys. sweet to see him off the ice doing some good. back to you. >> that was very nice. and that was funny, too. he's acting like a little kid, showing him all his stuff. nasa has scrapped plans for the first ever all female space

walk because of a wardrobe mall function astronauts christina koch and anne mcclain were scheduled to head out on friday but now it's on hold because they don't have the right size space suit available for one of the women. they both needed a medium suit and there's only one medium suit board. after some serious backlash online, nasa responded it is safer to change astronauts rather than reconfigure the space suits. so now nick hague will be taking anne mcclain's place. suits.yoeed get more >> sent another suit up there. something tells me they will. >> yeah. there's a way to tap into the power of social medi that could make you some money. >> consumer reporterer susan

we all love free stuff. on you know a simple post social media can lead to a lot of free stuff coming your way. >> where have we been in this? we learned that some companies are monitoring what you'reyi about them and rewarding you as a way to say thanks. >> consumer reporter susan hogan is working for you on how to po for perks. >> we all vent on social media when we have a bad experience with a particular company. but now whave learned that positive posts can actaslly pay off well. inside thi high-tech room, all eyes are on these large seens which flash social media posts from allround the world. what you're watching is the latest tool some companies usea tot you. >> we see about 25,000

media shares coming from all 6,900 of our hotels around the world every 24 hours. >> this is marriott's global marketing command center located at their headquarters in eythesda. th monitor every click, post, video, using location based technology known as geo fencing, employees can see a postn real time. if a customer mentions marriott, a customer representative can engage with them, and send a rk to say thanks. >> they'ree abl to see the stories of people enjoying their vacations, celebrating those moments. e >> reporter: lhis one, nadia posted she was enjing the beach in aruba. they saw it and surprised her with a free sun set cruise. amandaas posted she staying at

trriott markey in miami and got freeickets to a food and wine festival that weekend. social media influencers used to be the only ones receiving these kinds of perks but a new law requires them to tell their follower when they've gotten something for free. >> as a result i think mketers are saying let's see if we can find morerganic mentions where people have ce in contact with our product or grand as opposed to us recruiting them. >> you don't have to have a ton of followers to get if perks. >> the word of mouth is not limited to the factou have 44 followers, they can then have their network and say my friend had an amazing encounter with the company. >> what are things you can do. start by becoming a mber of a company's loyalty prograou make sure yr post is relevant and fun, a tag the company because

you never know who's watching. now, of course, marriott can only seeour public posts so if you don't want them or anyone else looksiing at your post kee it private. how cool is that? >> how cool. what are they going to do whes everyone doing it. >> what a great marketing idea to do. costs them nothing except afr f perks. >> can i speak how much we love the ritz carlton in bora bora. >> i don't think we're allowed take the perks. >> i know. >> it's smart. >> it's going around the social influencers. >> it's great to see that. >> their command center. let's turn to the weather now. do you like it out there? >> it was a little chilly. >> but it was sunny. >> deceptively chilt.

>> looked like another day of flip flops. >> with the sun. it is beautiful in bora bora, by the way. >> it is? >> s. phenomenal down there. >>hat airline? >> out there right now guys, pretty good afternoon. good day for sailing. this is actually the -- what was it again, guys? this was the pride of baltimore 2 look at that. >> beautiful. >> two masted ship out there. pret good looking ship on the chesapeake bay. and the next couple months it'll be packed with boats. off in the distance the beautiful bay bridge. again, i cannot wait to start crossing the bay bridge heading to the beaches. out thereight now 51 degrees. dropping to 39 by 11:00 tonight. it'soing to be a chilly night once the sun goes down rlly going to see cool numbers

outside. 46 in gaithersburg. 45 annapolis. 50 in manassas. 48 towards dulles. nothing on the radar. we're high and dry the next couple ys the next chance of rain is not till sunday. still reall cool to the north. these are wind chills 44 in hagerstown. i mtioned it would breat to head to ocean city but maybe not today, 37 the current wind chill in ocean city, maryland. a good day at the beach even cold, looking at e ocean hearing the waves all sounds good. we are going to warm up the next few days but that's going to lead to more pollen whiche all -- no. nobody loves pollen. >> no, nobody loves pollen. we need a note from chuck bell'h bookwas at the beach this weekend said the weather was fantastic. here's your pollen report for today. mold spores coming in low. not worried about that. but the trees are coming in high. yesterday they were moderate today they are coming in a little bit higher.

weeds and grasses are still absent as we see the temperatures warming up toward the end of the work week and the wind coming up out of the south pumpingwa the er air in we'll continue to see the count go up. you have to think of the trees south othe area in full bloom our ng their pollen in direction. talking about trees we have the cherry trees at the tidal basin that are in stage 4 out of 6. ak projection looks to april 1st, that's month. it's when0%f the cherry blossoms are open. and then peak bloom is going to last a few days once we see the blosms out there and it's all dependent on the weather, the temperatures, the w ds and the rain. if i was heading down to the tidal basin this weekend, saturdayersus sunday, i would pick saturday, doug.

we're mild, we have hazy sunshine, a nice breeze. and we have rain in the forecast on sunday. >> a lot of sunshine the next couple days. opening day looks great, into the 70s for friday and saturday. and temperatures fndling . look at next week, on the cool side, temperaturestextve thursd looking nice. >> owthanks,doug. fears are growing for a woman who lives inort washington. she's been here nearly 30 years but an immigration deadline this sunday could send her back to a country where her family was killed. tracee wilkins with how president trump can help. >> we come before you now asking for your blessing wereour protection. >> reporter: these liberian activists are depending on the power of prayer and the mercy of president trump. >> we are asking president trump

please have sympathynow these people are providing for your society. >> reporter: some 4,000 are endanger of deportation. they're in the u.s. under d.e.d. deferred enforced departure. for nearly 30 years presidents ha extended their stay protecting them. francis is one ofthem. >> so many of my family, my siblings were killed in a war, including my kids, my mother, my father >> reporter: francis grew up in liberian but her early 20s fled to the u.s. nearly 30 years later s sh pediatric nurse living in fort washington. if preside trump does not extend d.e.d. she will lose her legal status and not be able to work in the u.s. >> all my life i've been y here >> tve no other place in the world. they came here seeking refuge.

>> reporter: president trump provided a 12-month extension last that ends sunday. unless something changes. >> we asking everybody call the white house, flood the white house line until there's no room for calls. >> reporter: in addition to this activism we're seeing political ers getting involved. u.s. senators are congressman from maryland are asking the president to extend the deadline and also considersh citiz for these folks who have the country for decades. still to come and against all odds, success story. >> the young man who struggled

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lately the recent college admissions scandal has consumed national headlines. tonight we thoug we'd share one teen's honest, hardworking journey to great academic heights. david culver introduceso us the student who has turned his struggles into success. >> reporter: 's a perfect example of why you should look past the cover. the pages that make up his life reveal a hunger for success. >> sompeople aren't hungry enou enough.

if you want something go get it. >> reporter: he's doing that, he recently won two scholarships while taking a full class load and works full time. >> he'sen gized, he's amazing. >> reporter: his journey was far from easy. starting i sixth gradehrough much of high school he and his mom were homeless. while sdents would go to their own homes, he had to do hisst ying in the backseat of a car. >> it's hard to do homework in your ca and then, you know, when you have papers due and you have to o in at like 4:00, 5:00 in t morning to school to hope the library is open to get it done. >> repter: after his mom lost her job, the two spent years struggling. >> it was on me to be the breadwinn breadwinner, i supported the family, i worked 35 hours a week in high school and i had to take care of her sometim because she was sick. >> reporter: he pushed forwd,

graduated high school and enrolled at nova. while talking about his achievements, he never leaves out his mother. >> we're a team, she gave birth to me, brought me into this world. it's something that -- sry. i don't i can't really explain knit. >> knowing the difficulties he's gone through and howe has risen to the top of the top. >> professorhris blake looks on with pride encouraging him to take on the next level. >> i want to go to william and mary and after that i want to work for a nonprofit or start my own. >> hoping to use his accomplishments so others might succeed. david culver news4. now at 6:00. charges dropped. >> i would not be my mother's son if i was capable of one drop of what i was accused of.

>> "empire" actor jussie smollett goes free. the police chief and mayor irate. >> this is a whitewash of ju ice. >> so what happened in chicago? victory dent trump's lap takes him to capitol hill where new battles are brewing not just on theer muereport. >> this should never happen to a president again. >> but on health care. >>un a woman down and killed in front of her own home. police say it was intentional. tonight a witness tells news4 about the image he will never get out of his head. >> when he hit her, it was like a bomb went off. >> announcer: news4 at 6:00 starts now. and we are beginning with that dramatic plot twistin lving "empire" star jussie smollett. today prosecutors dropping all charges. >> that's right. dozened more than a felony charges accused of staging a hate crime attack when he was the victim. >> as the actor